After more than 3 years of negotiations, the EU adopted a package comprising a directive on contracts for the supply of digital content and services ("DCD") and a directive on contracts for the sale of goods ("SGD"), both applicable in B2C relations. Member States will have two years to transpose these directives into their national law. A major innovation of the DCD lies in its scope of application, as it does not only apply where the consumer pays a price but also when he/she provides personal data as a counter-performance. This raises concerns on interactions with data protection law.

The Court of Appeal issued a ruling on 19 March 2018 that impacts software owners and their sales agents. The ruling reverses an earlier High Court decision. It's now clear that agents who negotiate or conclude software licences are not protected by the UK's Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 ("the Regulations") if the customer receives the software solely in intangible form, for example, by downloading it.

Annabelle Gold-Caution of Fieldfisher analyses the impact of targeted social and technical influence on recent significant political events across the globe, comparing state responses to fake news, social media propaganda and cyber espionage.

On 24th May the Fieldfisher Silicon Valley team attended the Churchill Club's Top Tech Trends event in Santa Clara, CA where 5 leading VC's made their predictions for the next 5 years.
The question posed was "What new tech trends will emerge with the potential for explosive growth in 5 years?"

How are digital companies affected by the "Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz" (Network Enforcement Act - NEA), a new law in Germany, which intends to tackle the highly controversial issue of hate speech and other illegal content on social media platforms.

Most consumers in the UK are aware that the European Union's "Roam-like-at-home" rules will come into effect on 15 June 2017. Many are delighted by the prospect of being able to use their mobiles on their summer holidays in Europe without the fear of bill-shock that so many have experienced from using their phones abroad while they are on holidays.

A recent judgment from the UK's Technology and Construction Court highlights how important it is for businesses to audit their use of third party software on a regular basis and to review licence terms before implementing systems changes that could impact use of existing applications.

New rules for the insurance of autonomous vehicles were put forward last week in the Vehicle Technology and Aviation Bill. The government says that the aim of the measures is to "help the UK to become a world leader in these technologies by breaking down some of the barriers that could limit companies from testing them here".